


Takes Some Time

by daehwis



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Build, like rlly slow u might hate me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-01 14:17:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14522445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daehwis/pseuds/daehwis
Summary: Jihoon makes a new friend at a party after an awkward encounter.au where daniel and jihoon hopelessly fall for each other





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very long but I didn’t want to split it.... sorry about that... there won’t be like a plot I guess it’s more like.... experiences. That doesn’t make sense lol I tried not to rush everything so it will be like 10 chapters I promise by chapter 9 someone will confess ... also this chapter is kinda boring so pls anticipate the rest

DAY 1

“I'm not going Daehwi. How many times do I have to tell you.” Jihoon had repeated for what he thinks is the 5th time today.

 

The boys were walking slowly towards the bus stop, something they did everyday after school. They needed to pick up the pace but all of Jihoon’s attention was on his friend.

 

“It's going to be fun. C’mon why are you being like this?” Daehwi asked with a pout.

 

“Maybe because I already know why you want to go… Plus I also know you. You're just gonna leave me alone and if that's the case, why bother wasting my time and energy.”

 

Jihoon knew exactly why Daehwi was persisting to go to this house party. He assumed Jinyoung, Daehwi’s crush, was going as well so he needed an excuse to hang out with him. Not only that but Daehwi occasionally drank and he needed someone to take care of him. That, he didn't mind but ditching him for someone else? He can pass.

 

Daehwi didn't denied this accusation which meant there was some truth it.

“Plus you don't even know who's hosting the party! Are you crazy or something?” Jihoon shouted impatiently.  

 

“He's a new kid! His name is Daniel, I talked to him once… He seemed nice and I think he might be rich too.” Daehwi responded right away.

 

_Rich? As if that made a difference. He must be a stuck up kid then._

 

 _“_ We're gonna get on this bus and I swear Daehwi if you ask me one more time, we're no longer friends.”

 

“But-”

 

“No buts.”

 

Daehwi pretended to zip his lips, and did as he was told.

Jihoon believed it was finally over until his mother's words surprised him during dinner.

 

“Jihoon, Daehwi called me earlier. He said you refused to go over to his house to study. You have a really important exam next week and he's just worried for you. He begged me to let you stay over for the night.”

 

Jihoon almost choked on his food.

He wasn't sure what surprised him more, Daehwi being this stubborn enough to call his mom and lie or the fact that his mom believed there was an exam on the first week of school.

 

“What?” Was all that seemed to come out.

 

“After dinner, I'm taking you to his house okay.” His mom answered with a strict tone. “Unless you had different plans for tonight?”

 

_Plans? If she meant playing video games till I passed out then yes I had different plans._

 

But Jihoon knew better than to reveal that Daehwi was lying. Who knows how that would end up backfiring, so he had no choice then to go. In the end Daehwi had won.

 

\------

 The two boys were wearing black, it was not planned but they ended up matching. The difference is that Daehwi claimed his outfit was “sexier” while Jihoons was more casual.

 

Daehwi knocked on the door three times after making sure they were at the right address. Although it was obvious by the music playing.

 

Surprisingly a girl had opened the door for them. Jihoon didn't know who she was, but he could have swore he had seen her around school.

 

They quickly greeted her and walked inside the house.

There wasn't as many people as Jihoon had expected. Around 20 people? Although it was mostly people he didn't recognize. Some even looked older than high schoolers.

 

Daehwi and Jihoon looked around until they saw any familiar face. Woojin who was wearing a bright red sweater stood out from across the room. They made themselves over to him and were surprised by the loud reaction.

 

“YOOO! I didn't think you guys were coming!” Woojin was holding a red solo cup, Jihoon assumed he was at the least tipsy.

 

“I was forced here.” Jihoon said with a fake smile.

 

“Typical.”

 

Jihoon looked around again, for nothing in particular but to inspect his surroundings. The house seemed nice, besides the mess on the tables, it had a fancy feeling to it and was larger than most homes.

 

And then His eyes locked with another boy’s across the room. The slender boy was having a conversation with a girl. He noticed him laughing, which irritated him a bit

Oh it's Jinyoung, what a surprised he thought to himself..

 

Jihoon slightly bumped his elbow on Daehwi to grab his attention. And then pointed with his eyes towards the taller boy.

 

“Your Jinyoungie.” Jihoon whispered.

 

He must have noticed them staring since he left the girl alone and walked towards them.

 

Jinyoung gave them a smile way too big for a normal greeting.

“Daehwi! Jihoon! I haven't seen you guys in so long! How was the break for you guys?” Jinyoung asked.

 

_He asked us both but for some reason he was only staring at Daehwi. Did he forget I existed too. Either way I don't care._

“It was fun, I missed you though.” Daehwi spoke gently. Making sure his voice sounded cute enough.

 

_Had he practiced that line?_

 

Truly Jihoon wanted nothing more than to leave..

 

He checked his phone, 8:42 pm.

And then he checked it again, 8:51 pm. Except this time Daehwi was gone, and Jihoon was left alone.

 

_Aish, Seriously this kid. Why are we even best friends. Best friends aren't supposed to do this. I'm stuck at a party where I know no one and now I'm just supposed to pretend I want to be here._

 

Woojin was past drunk, surprising since the night was still young. So hanging out with him was crossed off his list. Everyone else in the room were people who Jihoon didn't feel comfortable enough to talk to or simply did not know at all. With no other choice Jihoon walked over to the kitchen to try and find something to drink but was faced with only alcohol.

As tempting as it seemed Jihoon didn't drink, plus he was with Daehwi he needed to stay sober. So he scattered through the fridge and eventually found some apple juice. He poured it in the red cup hoping no one had caught him in the act.

 

He noticed someone had lowered the music and once he sat on the couch half of the people were gone.

 

He didn't think much of it and brought his attention to his phone. He had just downloaded a game and was happy to have the chance to finally try it out.

 

9:23 pm. Jihoon decided he'll stay one more hour. He looked up from his phone and realized there was only 5 people in the room. 2 of which were passed out in the couch across him. Woojin, Daehwi and Jinyoung were nowhere to be seen. But more surprisingly why was this party so lame?

 

He looked around the room, hoping someone he'd recognized would come to rescue him and knew where the hell his friends were. But instead a tall boy with a muscular frame, and black hair began to walk towards him.

_Who is that guy? Is he walking towards me? Oh no…_

 

 _“_ Hey.” He sat right next to Jihoon, casually as if they knew each other beforehand.

“Hey.”

“I've noticed you been playing games on your phone the entire night. It must be fun huh?” The boy chuckled which made Jihoon more nervous.

“Do you want me to tell you truthfully?”

“Please.” with a smile plastered on his face as if he was dying to know.

“Well… in reality I’m just bored. And I wish I was in my bed right now. But you know my friend forced me to come to this lame party and left me alone so now I have no choice but to play games on my phone and steal apple juice from whoever lives here.”

The boy left out an airy laugh. His sharp eyes instantly becoming softer as he smiled.

“Ha. You're funny.”

And then he looked at Jihoon, his face reminding him of a lost puppy. “Wait did you really steal apple juice?” he asked curiously.

Jihoon picked up his cup and shook it softly. “Do you want some? Only if you promise you won't tell on me.”

 

“I promise.” The puppy like boy stole the cup from his hands and took a sip.

 

“But seriously…. Why does this party suck? There's like no one here and the music isn't loud enough… I expected more of a rich kid.”

 

“Rich kid?” The boy raised his eyebrows a bit taken back from the comment. “But you're right and they also need more juice options. I want some orange juice.”

 

“Orange juice sucks in my opinion.”

 

“Your opinion sucks.”

 

Jihoon turned to check on the other surprised by the childish comeback and was faced with a smile.

 

“I'm joking. I'm joking.” He lifted his hand in defense. “What's your name by the way.” his face now resting on his palm.

“Jihoon. And you?”

“Daniel.”

 

_Daniel. Why did that sound familiar? Daniel. Daniel. Daniel._

 

_Oh. OH._

 

The sudden realization had hit him, the guy he was talking to about the lame party is actually the host himself. And now Jihoon wanted nothing more than to crawl into a ball and disappear. This showed him to never talk behind anyone's back.

His face felt a bit hot but he was too embarrassed to fan it.

“Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I didn't know that you were… you.” Jihoon began explaining.

“Oh so you do know who I am.” Daniel was smiling, not showing any sign of being offended but more surprised of Jihoons reaction.

“I didn't mean to be so mean. I'm just- My friend always does this and I have no choice but to be alone and suffer and I'm sorry I called your party lame. It's not that bad.” Jihoon tried to fix the situation.

 

“It's okay. Really I don't care.” Daniel chuckled at his flustered response. “I do have to agree the party is kind of lame.” he frowned.

 

“It's fine. It's way better than anything I could plan.” Jihoon tried to relax himself.

 

“I lowered the music, I just moved here and I'm not sure how the neighbors feel about it. I figured it's better than them calling the cops on us.”

 

_That made a lot of sense._

 

“As for the lack of people, they're actually all upstairs playing games. Most of them are drunk and the room is empty so less ways for them to hurt themselves.” Daniel laughed to himself.

 

_That explains why no one is down stairs._

 

“The energy though yea… My friend couldn't make it. He's usually the one who makes it more fun. I also moved schools so I was hoping this party would make people like me but I guess that didn't work well with you.”

 

“What? No… of course I like you.” jihoon awkwardly laughed.

 

“If you say so.”

 

There was a small silence when Daniel examined Jihoon’s face making him a bit nervous.

_Why is he staring? Do I have something on my face? Impossible I haven't ate anything._

“Oh.”

“What is it?”

“You have really pretty eyes.” Daniel was looking deeply into his eyes and for the first time Jihoon questioned whether to get up or not.

 _Wow your eyes are so beautiful, so pretty._ He's heard that plenty of times but never from another boy before which is why he was taken aback.

“Oh.. thank you..” he said shyly.

Daniel moved backwards. “Sorry was that weird”

_Yes that was a bit weird._

He rarely got complimented by total strangers.

“No it's okay..” he said.

 

and another silence. 9:40 pm.

 

_40 more minutes and I’ll be able to leave._

 

Jihoon felt the awkward tension creeping up so he came up with something.

“What did you do for fun at your old school?”

Daniel pointed as himself, as if there was another person in the room for Jihoon to ask.

 

“I dance mostly.”

Jihoon’s face lit up. “Me too!”

 

Daniel nodded happy that they finally had something in common in case the conversation awkwardly ended again.

 

“I was also in a gaming club.”

Jihoon wanted to laugh.

 

_That's so nerdy and unexpected of him._

 

“I play games too. Isn't a club too much though?”

 

“Are you making fun of me Jihoon? Aren’t you the one who played games all night. I’m actually really good by the way.”

A smile worked its way across Jihoon’s face.

“What no? I'm being serious.”

 

“Do you play any sports?”

 

“Not really..”

 

_No? seriously…. A nerd stuck in a popular boys body. Ha. I guess the rich don’t have it all._

 

“I work out for myself and you?.” he said with a cheeky grin. 

He pushed his black hair up, revealing his toned (non existent) biceps. 

 

_Are you flexing? Are you trying to show off. I wish i could roll my eyes right now._

 

 _“_ I play most sports, but I'm not in anything official.” Jihoon revealed.

 

“We should play together one day. I don't know? Basketball if you teach me anyway.” Daniel considered.

 

“You don’t know how to play basketball?” Jihoon’s mouth was open.

 

Daniel was laughing. It was true Daniel didn't know much about sports but it wasn't his fault. Jihoon tried his best to explain the rules, and Daniel nodded pretending the information was sticking to his head. The boys continued to argue which sport was the most fun. At the end Jihoon decided Daniels opinion didn't even matter if he had never played any of the sports.

 

Daniel revealed more about his personal life, about his family. Like how he wasn't rich as rumor claimed. He actually grew most of his life poor but his mom got a great job and now were living a more luxurious life. That and his dad was finally sending them help after years of disconnect.

Jihoon began to feel comfortable and before he realized it they were talking as if they knew each other for a long time. They had a lot in common and at one point he thought he had more in common with Daniel than with Daehwi.

 

10:30 pm.

Had he been talking to Daniel for that long?

 

“Oh I should get going! Daehwis mom is going to kill us if she finds out we're not in his room.”

 

“You sneaked out?”

 

“Your mom lets you go to parties in the middle of the night?”

 

“True.” But actually Daniel’s mom would but he didn’t say anything.

 

“Do you need a ride? I can drive you there.”

 

“What? It's fine, really. I'm probably more sober than you anyway. I'll just call a cab for us.”

 

“Really it's no problem for me.”

“You're funny Daniel. Do you think leaving drunk guests at your house when everyone thinks you're rich is a good idea?”

 

He was right, he'd completely forgot about that. Especially since he had people over he never really met before.

 

Daniel took his phone out and handed it to Jihoon.

“Here save your number.”

Jihoon was a bit hesitant but figured there was no real problem.

Daniel typed something out and sent it to Jihoon.

“It's my address in case you forget it. You'll need it for my next party. I promise it won't be lame next time.”

 

Jihoon nodded.

_Next time?_

_“_ Text me back.”

“I will.”

“Do it right now.”

Jihoon took his phone out, and opened the new conversation with Daniel.

 _“You are so impatient.”_ he hits sent.

“ _No you're just slow.”_ he received.

 

Is Daniel forgetting they're right next to each other in real life.

 

\----

 

Jihoon tried his best to drag Daehwi out of the room. It didn't take much to notice the alcohol was talking for him.

Daehwi yelled loudly. “No, I don't want to go.” He was holding on to Jinyoung for dear life.

 

“You have no choice. You know you're mom is gonna kill you if she notices we’re gone. No offense, but i will blame it all on you.”

“I want to stay here. You're so boring Jihoonie, I'll just stay here for the night with my new friend Daniel.”

_Where was he pointing? Daniel was downstairs the entire night._

“I don't mind.” Daniel added.

“What? no. That's not possible.” Jihoon grabbed Daehwi’s hand and pulled his body with him. Yes, they were causing a scene but none of them would remember it by Monday.

 

Jinyoung was pulling Daehwis hand. “Hey leave him alone.”

Jihoon completely ignored him and turned to Daniel.

“Now him…. He's the one that should stay for the night.”

 

The cab Jihoon had called 15 minutes earlier was waiting patiently in front of the house. Daniel offered to help carry Daehwi to the car but he declined.

“It's fine. Plus Daehwi can walk right Daehwi?”

“What's going on?”

 _Okay_. Well at least he's conscious.

What was the proper goodbye for someone you met at a party who you aren't sure if they consider you a friend or not.

_Goodbye. Thanks for the apple juice sorry again for insulting you.. See you later?_

_Doesn't that imply we're meeting again though?_

“Have fun without me, okay? Bye.” Jihoon and Daehwi waved goodbye and started to walk towards the cab.

 

Daniel waved back. “See you.”

 

Both boys slouched on the back seat of the cab. Jihoon gave the man the directions and in a few seconds they were gone.

“He likes you.” Daehwi laid his head on Jihoons shoulder.

 

“Who likes me?” Jihoon went along with his friend’s drunk talk.

 

“Daniel.”

 

“Are you that drunk? He didn't even say anything.”

 

“Only a little.... But it didn't matter what he said, it's the way he was looking at you.”

 

_Looking at me? None of it seemed off or strange. Daehwi was seriously drunk and babbling about his love scenarios._

 

“What happened with Jinyoung? Did you finally confess.”

 

“What! Of course I didn't.” he came to his senses at the sound of Jinyoung’s name. “Who would ever do that….”

 

“Tell my crush I like them? I would.”

 

“You’re only say that because you’ve never been in love. It's different when you are. You know sometimes being “just friends” is worth not ruining the friendship.”

 

“Whatever you say. But who knows? If you just confessed, you could be dating right now.”

 

Daehwi was right, he had no valuable relationship experience so he didn't know much. But it seemed easy to him.

then again he would be lying if he knew for sure if Jinyoung liked Daehwi back. They flirted a lot but…. did he mean any of it?

_Did jinyoung even like boys to begin with? Maybe you're right Daehwi. Don't confess just yet, but also fuck it do it anyway._

 

His phone vibrated. he looked up praying it wasn't any of their parents and was surprised to see a new text from Daniel.

 _“You're right it is boring without you.”_ with a tiny crying emoji.

He smiled to himself thinking of a clever reply.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The car parking bit is a true story, my friend from math class did kdjsnkjbdsji

WEEK 2

 

Everyone could agree that Monday's were the worst. Especially for Jihoon, who was assigned math as his first class this year.

 

_Who even needed math?_

 

Jihoon’s mom had offered to drive him to school Monday morning so he'd arrive early but was stopped by traffic halfway there. He ended up being later than usual.

 

He tried his best to quickly walk to class; last time Jihoon checked he only had 3 minutes to get there before the teacher would consider him late. If so, he’d have to go across campus to get a late pass and then come back to class, wasting an unnecessarily amount of time. None of it made sense to Jihoon but he knew if he was even a few seconds late, that would be his fate.

 

Jihoon took long strides and cursed for not having long legs when they were needed. He was close enough to see the door from the distance. He also noticed someone walking towards the door from the opposite direction.

 

_At least i'm not the only one late…._

_Wait is that?_

 

They arrived at the door at the same time.

He looked at the boy in front of him. “It's you.” They both said simultaneously.

 

It was the boy from the party, Daniel. But was it really? He looked much softer, and _way_ less intimidating.

 

As much as they wanted to catch up, they needed to go inside. They took one step in the room and the bell rang.

 

_We made it?_

 

The teacher from the front of the room noticed them but gave them no sign of disapproval (yet). Jihoon quickly sat down in his usual spot in the back row but Daniel stood in place.

 

“He stole my seat..” Daniel said in a low voice yet loud enough for Jihoon to hear.

 

Jihoon looked up but had no idea which seat he was referring too.

There was an empty space next to him so he pat the chair for Daniel.

 

With no choice Daniel sat down next to Jihoon and they both shuffled through their backpacks to get their papers out.

 

The teacher was explaining some of the answers from Friday’s homework which by the way Jihoon stood up all night doing. He took the opportunity to question Daniel.

 

“Why were you late?” he asked nonchalantly.

Daniel was squinting trying his best to look at the board and quickly write down the notes on his paper.

 

“Oh, I overslept and then some guy tried stealing my parking spot.”

“Is that so?”

_No one owns parking spots._

“I went out of my car and I was ready to fight him… obviously I couldn't though since I was already running late so I took the principals spot.”

 _Oh Daniel. There is so many things wrong with what you said_.

Jihoon tried his best from laughing but ended up chuckling a bit.

“You're joking right….”

Daniel placed his pencil down and turned to look at Jihoon(Who by the way wasn't paying attention at all to the teacher.)

“Nope.” he answered in a serious tone.

“Won't you get in trouble for that?”

“We'll find out later.” he smiled to himself. “What about you?”

“Traffic. nothing exciting like you.”

The teacher had moved on to another problem luckily for them other people were talking as well so they were safe for now.

“By the way how come I never noticed we had this class together..”

Daniel shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows, maybe because i sit in the front of the class and I don't think you ever pay attention.”

 

“So you knew?”

“No…” Daniel answered confusedly.

 

They were interrupted.

“Can the conversations stop, unless you are talking about inverse equations I don't want anyone else speaking over me.” The teacher warned with a stern voice. 

The class finally went silent.

 

A few minutes later the teacher wrote new problems on the board and let them work together with their partners. Daniel took this opportunity to talk again.

“How's your friend by the way? Blondie?”

_Is he talking about Daehwi? He's not blond? Was he that drunk or does he have bad memory?_

“Oh Daehwi? He's fine he had a headache in the morning but nothing some tylenol can't fix.”

Daniel didn't respond as if he was contemplating on saying something.

“I've actually met him before. Last week he came up to me, he's cute very? energetic.” Daniel tilted his head. “I don't really have any friends here so I was happy he talked to me, but he’s probably just a talkative person.” 

 

That sounded like Daehwi.

 

“Oh yea he's like that. Don't worry, he already considers you a friend. Just tell him his outfit looks cute and you'll practically steal his heart, if that's what you worried about.” He tried to comfort him. 

Daniel quietly laughed. “No offense but how did you guys become friends? He's so.. you know... extroverted.”

It's true even Jihoon wondered how Daehwi could have that much energy.

“He's a childhood friend… I don't know. But we have more in common than you think.”

“Oh really? Would you take five shots?”

Jihoon snapped his head, for once hearing news of his best friend.

He asked in disbelief. “Daehwi did that?”

“Well… no but it seems like something he would do.”

Before Jihoon could argue back the teacher began speaking.

 

“Daniel please stop interrupting the class.” She said with no emotion. 

Daniel let out a quiet sorry to the class.

 

So they started whispering.

“How does she know your name?”

 

“Probably because i'm such a good student who has an A.” He proudly stated.

 

“No shit… it's the second week of school. it would actually be more impressive to not have an A.”

Unbeknownst to them they progressively got louder with each word.

“Having an A is impressive.”

“No it isn't.”

“Is to.”

“It's not.”

The Teachers eyes were back on them, they both managed to stay quiet while she stared them down.

Daniel made sure to smile at her.

_You think you're helping ?!?!_

 

_—————-_

 

Not only did Jihoon not write any notes but he was always on his phone.

“Who are you texting?” Daniel leaned into him and read the contact before Jihoon could move his hand.

“It's my friend Woojin.”

“What's with the heart?”

Woojin had stolen his phone a few weeks ago and changed his contact and was too lazy to change it back.

“Oh he did that himself.”

“How do you have me saved us?”

“Daniel party guy.”

“That's boring. lemme see your phone.” He had asked but for some reason took his phone out of his hand. Daniel typed something out smiling to himself.

‘My real love niel ❤️’

_That's….. cringy._

“Better.”

“That's too long. Plus Woojin might get jealous.”

“True but that sounds like a personal problem.”

Daniel took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Jihoon.

“Here i'll let you change yours.”

Jihoon looked at the screen for a while with an empty mind. There wasn't anything he could think of but ended up with ‘Wink Boy’.

“Wink boy? Lemme see if you really live up to that name.”

_Maybe that was a bad idea._

“What? No way.”

 _“_ C'mon just one wink.”

“No.”

“Uh yes.”

“No.”

“Yes?”

“Okay fine but seriously shut up or else the teachers going to get mad again.”

All pride aside, he gave his best wink for Daniel.

Daniel made a big fuzz, probably half cringing, half happy. He also clutched his heart as if it was to that extent.

Jihoon was beyond embarrassed.

“Don't be .. so dramatic you weirdo.”

Daniel was still giggling to himself.

 

“Daniel can you please leave the room.” Everyone in the room turned their head back instinctively. “You can also join him Jihoon.”

 

The teacher had finally given up and asked them to leave.

 

Everyone in the room began to ‘oooooh’ in unison, and the boys walked out with their heads down in shame.

 

——————

Daniel nervously scratched the back of his head.

“Sorry?”

They were walking absentmindedly. “I've never been sent out of class before….especially for talking…”

“Oh it's fine at my old school this was normal for me.”

Jihoon looked at him and Daniel realized he wasn't helping.

“It's fine really…”

“Also she knew my name.” Jihoon realized.

“I'm telling you it's because we have an A in the class.”

Jihoon playfully pushed Daniel.

“Of course we do you idiot.”

Daniel ran a few feet away from him, he looked like a puppy ready to play.

He was walking backwards, to face Jihoon. 

“So what now? Should we ditch? or we can sleep if you know a place.”

Jihoon didn't know what you were supposed to do when you were sent out of the classroom. Maybe go to the principal's office? Wait outside the class? Who knows..

 

“We can sneak into the dancers room and I can finally beat you in a dance battle.”

 

“Bet?” Daniel challenged with a huge smirk on his face.

Maybe ditching class could be a bit fun, but Jihoon prayed they wouldn't get caught. At least until second period.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're getting somewhere... maybe....

WEEK 4

 

Eventually Jihoon figured out a way to include Daniel with the rest of his friends. Luckily for him after making them all meet, they got along just fine.

Next thing you know slowly but surely Daniel was added into the picture.

 

It was a Tuesday morning, Daniel had given Jihoon a ride to school.  Something that was now becoming a habit.

Being picked up meant more time to sleep, something Jihoon would never deny. He didn't want Daniel to feel like he was his personal taxi driver, but Daniel insisted he didn't mind.

 

Depending on when Daniel wakes up, is that factor that decides when they arrive at school. This morning he took his time to get ready and even stopped by a convenience store before meeting Jihoon. There was still 15 minutes until school started so there wasn’t a need to rush. The boys walked together towards an empty table in the school's patio.

 

Jihoon’s eyes followed the black grocery bag Daniel was holding.  

 

They sat at the table opposite from each other. Daniel took out 2 cartons of milk.

“Here in case you didn't get to eat breakfast.” He picked up both cartons, letting Jihoon choose his own flavor.

 

The thought was nice of him considering Jihoon explained taking the bus required him waking up early, which gave him no time to eat in the morning.

Jihoon picked the chocolate milk, which he would later regret.

“Thanks, Niel.” he opened the side of the carton and brought it to his mouth.

 

Through his peripheral vision he noticed Daniel’s head turn to look behind him. But maybe it was too early in the morning to understand what was going on and connect the dots. Because next thing you know, someone was shaking his shoulders and yelling right beside his ear.

“JI-HOON-AH.” Someone carefully (and loudly) pronounced each syllable.

The scream startled Jihoon and made him drop the carton, most of the milk spilling on his clothes on the way down.

 

Jihoon immediately got up and was ready to find who was responsible.

He wasn’t at all surprised it was his close enemy (friend) Woojin.

Jihoon looked down at his favorite yellow shirt that now had a huge brown spot in the middle. Luckily none of it spilled on his jeans but who would expect him to walk around with a stain on his shirt.

 

“Yah! What's your problem? Look what you did!” Jihoon began walking towards Woojin who was now taking a few steps back.

 

“If I knew you were gonna get so scared I wouldn't have done it.” He stuck his tongue out to try and provoke him. Woojin ran to the other side of the table behind Daniel in hopes to be protected for a bit.

“Oh, hey Daniel.” he hid behind Daniels shoulders.

“Hey Woojin.” Daniel was smiling enjoying this way too much.

 

“You guys are the worst. Look at me!” Jihoon was moving his arms to emphasize how upset he was.

 

Daniel’s smile disappeared. “What did I do?”

“You're the one who gave me the milk!” Jihoon exclaimed.

 

“How is it my fault that you accepted it!”

 

“Also, you look the same as always Jihoon.” Woojin cheekily said.

Jihoon looked at him as if it he was ready to fight his friend. Daniel knew that was their dynamic of their friendship, but he also didn't know them well enough yet to know how serious they could get.

 

Daniel stood up in hopes to calm the situation down. He took off his hoodie in one swift motion and offered it to Jihoon.

“Here, take it.”

Jihoon stared at his friend’s clothing, questioning if he should or not.

“C'mon, wear it. It's not like you have anything else to change into.”

_He was right…._

Jihoon took it, squeezing his shirt dry before putting on the grey sweater.

It fit Daniel a bit big so it wasn't a surprised it was oversized on Jihoon’s smaller body. Daniel was taller and had longer arms than the younger.

So, it looked cute on Jihoon. The sleeves covered his hands and gave him sweater paws.

 

“You look really cute Jihoon!” Daniel said in awe.

“Oh! You do.” Woojin added as if he had just realized this.

Jihoon made sure to turn around before they saw his reaction. Who knew he would blush over such dumb comment.

“I'm leaving.” He stomped towards his class.

 

Daniel picked up the half empty milk carton and threw it in the trash. He still had his own which he would make sure to offer to Jihoon. But he wasn't sure if that was a good idea.

“Wait up!” Daniel ran ahead to catch up to Jihoon.

 

————

 

Besides math, Daniel and Jihoon had physics together. Both weren’t sure how they made it so far in the science department. Jihoon even assumed the school made a mistake. But he soon found out Daniel was smarter than he looked. Even though Daniel always seemed lost, he was smart. As for Jihoon… he was the opposite.

 

Daniel had managed to convince the teacher to change his seating chart to be next to Jihoon, which explained why the table on the far. right back became the loud table.

 

It was Daniel, Jihoon, Jinyoung and his friend Guanlin.

 

 

“Should we ask the teacher if we can make volcanoes?” Jinyoung was ready to raise his hand.

 

“Dude, this is physics. Not chemistry.” Guanlin explained.

 

Daniel was giggling, excited about the volcano idea.

 

“There’s a difference?” Jinyoung genuinely asked.

 

 Jihoon muttered under his breath.

_“How are we in an advanced physics class…”_

 

To make it worse, despite the class being difficult, the teacher never taught anything. He just handed packets of homework and expected everyone to understand them. Of course, this was great news for their table since they could slack off but Jihoon hated extra homework.

 

He took his pencil out and skimmed through the papers. 10 pages in 45 minutes. This wasn’t so bad, but his group made it difficult to focus.

 

Jihoon felt eyes on him and turned to the right where Daniel was patiently staring at him.

 

Jihoon raised his eyebrow and finally spoke when he didn’t get a response. “What is it?”

 

“You look so cute.”

 

Jihoon eyes widened.

 

Abd Daniel leaned back in his chair. “Seriously the hoodie makes you look even more adorable, I want to cuddle with you.” He smiled.

 

Jihoon wasn’t used to Daniel’s blunt words, so whenever he said anything embarrassing Jihoon would get red.

 

“D-Don’t look at me anymore. Do your work.” Jihoon turned to face his papers, but his hand wouldn’t move.

 

A few moments later, he noticed Daniel’s hand waving to steal his attention.

 

This time he turned and was shocked by Daniel’s phone.

“3, 2, 1.”  Click

Daniel took picture of Jihoon before he even realized it. His attention went back to his phone and Jihoon stiffened.

 

“Did you ju-“

“I’m showing my friends how cute you look. This needed to be documented.”

 

 _WHAT_.

 

Jihoon immediately reacted, reaching over to stop Daniel. “Don’t send them anything!!” But it was too late. Daniel had successfully sent the off-guard picture to the group chat.

 

“Don’t worry my friends are nice. They’re just curious and want to know what you look like.”

 

Jihoon was embarrassed. He didn’t know Daniel’s friends, so he was nervous random people now knew what he looked like.

 

“Oh! You see, they agree.” Daniel was reading the new messages and proudly lifted his phone to show Jihoon.  

 

“Yea, yea.”

 

Daniel finally settled down, as well as the other boys sitting in front of them.

But Jihoon got stuck on one of the problems and had no choice but to ask Daniel for help.

He tapped his arm. “Daniel?”

Daniel hummed as he finished writing something down. “What’s up?”

“Have you done problem 22 yet?”

Daniel moved his chair closer to Jihoon to help him.

“Yea, here.”

Daniel began to explain the problem and told him where to look in the textbook for the answer. But it was really hard for Jihoon to focus since they were so close to each other. Daniel must be used to skinship since he’ll randomly initiate it. Or maybe Jihoon lacks intimacy that he enjoys Daniel’s bouncy leg touch his own. Either way it was distracting. Daehwi likes skinship too but he was different, Jihoon was used to Daehwi. 

Maybe he would need to get used to Daniel. 

 

“Okay?” Daniel looked at him.

 

_He’s done? I guess I’ll have to google it later._

“Thanks.” Jihoon lied. 

 

But Daniel kept waiting.

 

“What is it now?”

 

“I just remembered my ex-girlfriend really liked that sweater.”

 

_Ex-girlfriend?_

It made sense Daniel would have girlfriends before but it still surprised Jihoon.

“She always wore it, so I gave it to her, but guess what she didn’t want it!” Daniel continued. “She said she only liked it when I wore it, something about smelling me.”

 

“One time I was in her room and I looked through her closet, half of it was my clothes! Girls are so weird.”

 

Well Jihoon could not relate, but he nodded, pretending to agree.

 

“Did someone say girls?” Guanlin interrupted. One of his hand slowly rubbing his chin, waiting for a response.

“Oh, yea my ex, but anyway.” Daniel seemed over talking about her, so he changed the subject. “Do you guys wanna hang out after school? Get some burgers or something.”

This caught Jinyoung’s attention.

“I’m down, as long as I get home safe my mom will let me.” Guanlin added.

“Same.” Jinyoung agreed.

“Good thing I can drive you all home.” Daniel grinned.

 

Guanlin and Jinyoung lit up. “You have your own car!?”

Daniel nodded enthusiastically.

“Wait what about Daehwi? Is he going?” Jinyoung remembered.

“I haven’t asked… but yea Daehwi and Woojin can come. Oh, isn’t that 6 of us? Someone is going to have to hide.” Daniel laughed.

 

“Daehwi is the smallest. Wait, Daehwi has a club meeting after school. It should be short; you guys don’t mind waiting a bit?” Jihoon remembered his friend reminding him before school.

 

Everyone agreed to wait after school near the parking lots. There was a grassy area with a huge tree to hide from the sun. But for now, they had to survive the rest of Physics class.

 

Jihoon turned his head back to the worksheets, and then slowly to the left. He could smell Daniel’s cologne, Jihoon could recognize it. It smelled nice, like when you smell something familiar it’s comforting. Maybe he could understand Daniel’s exes.

 

————

They all met up after school and sat down in a circle. They played games for a while but Daehwi was taking longer than expected. Jinyoung and Woojin went to look for a soccer ball in the fitness room, which left Jihoon and Daniel alone with Guanlin.

But in a few seconds, he excused himself to the restroom.

Daniel was laying on the grass while Jihoon sat, afraid to dirty his friend’s sweater.

 

“Daniel don’t lay on the grass you’ll stain your shirt.” Jihoon said out in the open. He knew telling him this wouldn’t stop him, but at least he tried. But instead of ignoring him, Daniel got up and laid his head on Jihoon’s lap.

 

“Better?” He looked up to stare at Jihoon.

 

With his hand he covered Daniel’s eyes. Shy by someone staring at him that intensively. 

 

“I’m going to fall asleep.” Daniel was laughing.

 

“Go ahead.” Jihoon whispered.

 

“Touch my hair, it makes me sleepy.” He confessed.

 

Jihoon felt weird. This he definitely never did with Daehwi. But Jihoon guessed he would if his best friend asked him. He brought his hand to Daniel’s head. Running his fingers through his black hair. Jihoon was glad his friend didn’t wear hairspray since it made his hair softer.

 

Jihoon thought this was cute of Daniel. He liked getting pet like a puppy?

He effortlessly played with strands of hair and noticed Daniel yawning.

 

“I should stop before you actually fall asleep. You’re the driver remember.” Jihoon stopped moving his hand but kept his hand on his hair.

 

“No, don’t stop.”

 

 _Okay_.

 

Guanlin came back before the others. And sat down in front of the sleepy boys.

Jihoon was closer to Jinyoung and never had the chance to be close with Guanlin so he knew he probably felt awkward around him.

 

Jihoon stared at his shoes, examining the mud streaks from last week. “How’s Jinyoung doing?”

 

Guanlin smiled, relieved Jihoon said something.

 

“He’s...crazy.” Guanlin decided.

 

Jihoon finished the sentence. “In love?”

 

“Something like that.” He was happy Jihoon understood him. “And Daehwi?”

 

“He’s the same.”

 

They both stayed quiet. Daniel a bit lost but eventually understanding what was happening.

 

“What about you Jihoon?” Guanlin wondered.

 

Daniel knew what he meant and was just as curious. But was surprised Jihoon was dense.

 

“What about me?”

 

Guanlin looked at Jihoon who was still absentmindedly playing with Daniel’s hair. And then at his phone.

“I’ll be back, Jinyoung needs me and my height.” He got up and walked away.

 

Jihoon looked down at Daniel who had his eyes closed.

He cupped his face and lightly pat it.

“Daniel-ssi wake up, this is no time to sleep.”

Slowly a smile appeared on Daniel’s face, who was jokingly asleep.

 

“Am I that boring? Are we that boring?”

 Daniel ignored the question and asked his own.

“You aren’t that close to him, right?”

 

“Guanlin? I guess we never got the chance to talk alone.” He confessed.

 

“You were acting the same way when we first met. Shy, quiet, with a lot of … empty spaces.”

 

“Sorry some of us weren’t born with perfect social skills.”

 

Daniel chuckled. “I’ll change that.”

 

Jihoon hummed not sure how to respond. He saw Woojin from the distance, he and Daniel would have to get up in a bit. He closed his eyes enjoying the few seconds before he lost Daniel’s presence.

 

He was happy Daniel was his friend.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope whoever made it this far enjoyed my story!!!! I already have a general outline of what is going to happen so I do plan on finishing this fic... do not worry....


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